Annotating Images A Prerequisite for Interdisciplinary Research in Medieval Studies

Abstract

Images require an act of interpretation in order to capture their semantic content for (computational) retrieval and analysis, as there is no equivalent process such as transcription for text. The creation of image annotations is, therefore, a complex undertaking but a prerequisite not only for the application of digital meth­ods to art historical research but also for the inclusion of images in cross-media and cross-disciplinary analyses in medieval studies. In this article, we will first outline the main issues and challenges of annotating medieval images. Based on the results of a study on depicted wood in medieval art, we will then focus on relevant processes and requirements in the annotation of visual phenomena and their evaluation. We will also explore the differences in perception of painted wood textures between humans and computer vision algorithms on the one hand, and project participants and laypersons on the other.